Congratulations to the 2026 NJCPA Scholarship Recipients

We are delighted to announce that the NJCPA Scholarship Fund awarded $188,000 in scholarships to 44 New Jersey-based high school and college students on April 23. The Fund distributed scholarships to 30 college students and 14 high school students. The college students each received between $2,000 and $6,500, and the high school students each received $1,500. The Fund distributed NJCPA/American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Minority Scholarships as well as NJCPA/National Association of Black Accountants – Northern New Jersey (NABA-NNJ) Chapter Awards and several in-name of/company awards. The scholarships were based on academic performance, standardized test scores (if taken), essays and personal interviews.

Congratulations to this year’s scholarship recipients:

High School Awards ($1,500)

• Daniel Amalfitano, Hanover Park High School
• Kayla Capobianco, Montville Township High School
• Aayushi Chauhan, Bridgewater Raritan High School
• Talia DiCristofaro, Williamstown High School 
• Lindsey Duverger, Hamilton High School East
• Maxim Gulko, Holmdel High School
• Evelynne Leong, Northern Valley Region – Old Tappan High School
• Emma Miele, Point Pleasant Boro High School
• Sofia Muller, Sayreville War Memorial High School
• Isabella Nieves, Wall Township High School
• Valentina Russino, Southern Regional High School
• Connor Shea, Park Ridge High School

Deloitte Foundation NJCPA Scholars Awards ($1,500-$6,500)

• Amna Ali Bukhari, Montville Township High School
• Mary Ojo, Arts High School
• Nader Ayoub, Rutgers University – New Brunswick
• Amina Bakyt, Rutgers University – New Brunswick
• Alex Gonzalez, Rutgers University – New Brunswick
• Avni Kondra, Rutgers University – New Brunswick

In Name of/Company College Awards ($2,000-$6,500)

• Bowman and Company, LLP - In Memory of John F. Dailey Jr., CPA
  Rylee Cascone, Stockton University
• Bowman and Company, LLP - In Memory of Lisa A. Donahue, CPA 
  Nicole Boskey, Rutgers University – Newark
• Citrin Cooperman 
  Avneet Kaur, Middlesex County College 
  Reese Passuth, Rutgers University – Newark
• CohnReznick LLP 
  Kole Federico, Seton Hall University
• EisnerAmper  
  Olivia Borella, Rutgers University – New Brunswick
• Forvis Mazars  
  Ronald Lopez, Seton Hall University 
• Holman Frenia Allison, PC   
  Madison Lanham, Rowan University
• In Honor of NJCPA Past President Brad E. Muniz, CPA   
  Angelina Harris, Montclair State University
• In Honor of NJCPA Past President Frank Boutillette, CPA   
  Kalila Scott, Rutgers University – Newark
• In Honor of NJCPA Past President Michael A. Polito, CPA   
  Anthony Cuccio, Rider University
• In Honor of Valerie Thomas, CPA, and former NJCPA CEO and Executive Director Ralph Albert Thomas, CPA (D.C., inactive)   
  Moutar Sampil, Rutgers University – Newark
• In Memory of Alan J. Preis, CPA  
  Anuvhuti Bisht, Hudson County Community College 
  Alexis Tanasy, The College of New Jersey 
• In Memory of former NJCPA Chief Operating Officer Theresa A. Hinton   
  Silah Mrazek, The College of New Jersey
• In Memory of Frederick and Lenore Horn  
  Jessica DiCristina, Fairleigh Dickinson University
  Charles Spinrad, Fairleigh Dickinson University 
• In Memory of NJCPA Past President John F. Dailey, Jr., CPA    
  Shayla Hascek, Rowan University
• NJCPA Council of Past Presidents    
  Nicholas Palmadesso, Ramapo College of New Jersey
• SKC & Co. CPAs     
  Angelene Mattingly, Ramapo College of New Jersey
• Smolin, Lupin & Co.
  Sarah Pajaro, Rutgers University – New Brunswick
• WilkinGuttenplan - In Memory of Jules C. Frankel, CPA
  Michael DeRiso, Stevens Institute of Technology
• WithumSmith+Brown   
  Carey Werheim, Seton Hall University 
  Irene Wong, Rutgers University – New Brunswick

Minority Scholarships ($5,500)

• NJCPA/American Institute of CPAs (AICPA)
  To be announced.

• NJCPA/National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) – Northern New Jersey Chapter
  Odane Daley, The College of New Jersey 
  Kalila Scott, Rutgers University – Newark

To support the NJCPA Scholarship Fund, visit njcpa.org/scholarship.